Remembering Furr's

I remember the Lubbock locals had a name for the supermarkets: Furrfood. It was a colorful West Texas colloquialism; just one word and everyone knew what you were talking about.

For me, the United-Albertson bomb dropped on Monday churned up some old memories of Furr’s.

It’s not the same story, but another example of life’s inevitable changes and the workers who are, and always will be, casualties of that change.

In the forties, fifties, and sixties, the Furr’s conglomerate was big business for a little town like Lubbock. It spread, like wildfire, in all directions in Texas and into New Mexico. The supermarket business eventually branched out into cafeterias and restaurants.

The Furr’s mystique was the work of the founder, Roy Furr. His evolution from grocer to business magnate was a West Texas Horatio Alger story. He was a legend; a human phenomenon of business sense combined with community philanthropy.

After his death in 1975, things began to slowly unravel. There was corporate competition, management-ego problems, but the death blow was the financial feud among the heirs to the Furr fortune. The supermarkets disappeared, some bought out by bigger chains and others simply closed their doors. The cafeterias were eventually devoured by a larger corporation.

The cafeterias survived as Furr’s, but in name only. The food is not the same. The atmosphere is certainly different. Gone are the massive grand pianos with the carefully coiffed pianists who played classical tunes and musical theatre pieces while middle class families dined in a late-fifties-early-sixties-faux-elegance. The fireplaces with their welcoming warmth and ambiance disappeared too; all of it replaced by IKEA décor and all-you-can-eat. It’s reflective of our changing mainstream culture, I suppose.

There are many Lubbock supermarkets, retail establishments, institutions, and restaurants which exist only in our memories: Hemphill’s, Dunlap’s, Methodist Hospital, Bank of the West, Dorothy’s, Margaret’s, W.D. Wilkins, Gibson’s, the Tottle Houses, El Charro, the Ming Tree, Sirloin for Steaks, and the Char King.

The reasons for their demise were many and different: death, bankruptcy, retirement, illness, family feuds, acquisitions and mergers. Sometimes the death was slow, painful and embarrassing; other times it was quick and merciful, like switching off a light.

The surviving owners usually did ok. As a matter of fact, some did very well. On the other hand, the workers in the middle, who spent a lifetime crafting and promoting the brand reputation of those companies, became the insignificant collateral damage in the battle between the corporateurs and the attorneys.

It’s ironic that the very people who made us love and patronize those establishments were the middle people: the managers, the cooks, the servers and the retail clerk who had been there for twenty or more years. They created the customer service we enjoyed. It was the workers that pleased us, fed us, clothed us, and healed us, not the corporate officers and their executive assistants.

The corporate office may have created the vision, but the workers made the vision possible; they built it hour-by-hour, day-by-day.

I realize that the United spokesman who remarked “Nothing will change” was trying to allay people’s fears, to soften the blow, but in all truthfulness, he cannot guarantee that. Nothing is immune to change. Life is not something we can mold and conform to our will and wishes.

Businessmen and politicians should never make promises they can’t keep, just to make people feel better. Lubbock’s heard the “nothing will change” before and without fail, things changed. We know, with great certainty, what will come next. Perhaps it won’t happen next year, but it will happen.

And it will continue. The corporatists and their insatiable appetite to conquer other companies are like PacMan. Chomping their way through the business sphere, oblivious to those who block their way, we’ve seen them eat the likes of American Motors, Beatrice, E.F. Hutton, General Foods, Burger Chef over the last thirty years. Yahoo is the hungriest hippo of all, having gobbled up eighty-six companies since 1997.

Just like death and taxes, it’s always the little people who are swept from the chess board. And the corporatists have the nerve to decry the lack of company loyalty among today's employees.

There is always a peak in everyone’s life journey. Bigger, better, best, richer, thinner, power-more-power, fame-more-fame; it can’t keep growing forever. There is always a sharp descent on the other side of a mountain top. With the zenith comes the nadir. It applies, not only to mountain climbing, but to retail stores, restaurants, business dynasties and people’s lives. It doesn’t discriminate. In real life, there are no happy endings.

Hear that? It’s the sound of life moving on.

_______________________________________

Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

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Well, we still have Lowe's. If you haven't visited their store and 26th and Boston, you have missed out. The remodel of that store has transformed a mediocre place to shop into a real gem. It is a neighborhood store for me, and I have gotten to know the people who work there. Since the remodel, their business has tripled.

Yes, I still visit the United Market Street store on 50th on occasion, when I am searching for an item that the local Lowe's doesn't carry or if I just happen to be passing by Market Street when I need to do grocery shopping. I have found Market Street prices to be generally higher, but it generally more out of convenience, rather that prices when I visit them.

Years ago I primarily shopped Albertson's and was pleased until they chose to re-model their store of 50th street. The arrangement of items was puzzling and the prices were high.

Once I was there shopping for sweet pickles. They had a refrigerated case of dill pickles, along with jars and jars of dill pickles. I did find a single a single brand of sweet pickles--gherkins, not what I was looking for. Before my local Lowe's market remodel, I searched for sweet pickles, and found three different brands of the large pickles.

I am truly sorry to see United make this move, and I believe within a year we will see the "crap" Albertson's tries to sell.

On the other hand, this is great news for Lowe's. It is their opportunity to follow the model of the 26th and Boston store.

And then there is HEB waiting in the background. If you have ever visited one of their "Market Street" like stores, it makes the Market Street stores in Lubbock look like amateurs. I have shopped the HEB store in both Austin and San Antonio. It is not as simple as going to the grocery store--it is an outing.....

So yes, I was disappointed with the United sale to Albertson's, but I look forward to watching Lowe's stepping up to the plate to outdo them as Albertson's declines by not following the United model. I also look forward to seeing HEB open stores in Lubbock.

As an aside, I don't think HEB purchased property here on a whim. There has to have been inside leaks about the United purchase that prompted that.

In nostalgia mode, Furr's grocery stores were great, and they outdid Piggly Wiggly (aka HEB). We still eat at Furr's Cafeterias, and yes, they are not as good as the originals. Do you recall Furr's Pie Kitchen?

So, like a lot of folks, I am truly upset about this purchase--especially because I don't think we will see the contributions United made to our community in donations any more.

When those stop, or when any changes start to surface, I will try to avoid shopping at these stores--no matter how far I have to drive to fine what I want.

I am sorry that the current owners are not willing to carry on the great business legacy they spent so many years building.

I assume that topcat in his infinite wisdom is trying to tell you that the little people, the middle managers, cooks and clerks are the ones that force businesses to go broke. Yea sure. topcat is always blaming things on others.

Unlikely, but nice, if what one reporter claimed were true - in intent and result as well as words: An Albertson's spokesman said if there were any change, it would be Albertson's becoming more like United.

They did have the best burgers in town!!! And there was a place on Ave Q. at about 46th or 47th that had some great ones, too.
As far as Albertson's taking over United, think that's the wrong move!!! Never liked that place and was glad to see them go!
Now, Carol, I think W.D.Wilkins is still open! Great furniture store!

Yes, I, too, remember Furrs fondly. But I have a question for everyone. Are Albertson's and Costco related? Is it just a coincidence that both are coming to town at the same time? You know, like Sam's and Walmart? We have waited eagerly for a Costco because we like their organic produce, especially meats. We also appreciate that Costco has a higher minimum wage ($12.50) and better benefits than Walmart/Sam's for its employees. Another rumor -- an LDS connection?

Perhaps, Ms. Morgan, you are in a position to find out? Actually, I guess it doesn't matter because we'll shop where we want to shop, but I'm curious.

Leftists worldwide are always clamoring about the "little guy". It's a time tested technique of the leftist movements throughout history. So maybe Carol will kindly explain how the left's massive takeover of the healthcare system is gonna help the smaller independent medical establishments? How come the left constantly attacks the Walmarts and McDonalds, and yet they rejoice in a massive government takeover of healthcare by the government?

"[T]he left's massive takeover of the healthcare system" does not even make sense. Walmarts and McDonalds are not in the same category as "government." The "government" is us -- ours -- paid by us tax payers to provide the services that create a stable environment so we citizens can live and work successfully. Wal-Mart and McDonalds are FOR PROFIT businesses that are privately owned whose profits benefit the owners and stockholders.